


Letting Go of a Rope

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Episode: s17e23 Heartfelt Passages, F/M, Friendship, Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-27
Updated: 2016-05-27
Packaged: 2018-07-10 14:07:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6988072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After over a decade working with Olivia Benson and seeing life hand her lemons and sometimes chuck them at her full throttle, it was nice to see the tide finally turning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Letting Go of a Rope

“I'm sorry I'm late.” Liv came running into the restaurant. “You're not even going to believe this but the microwave exploded.”

“What?” Melinda Warner stood from the booth and hugged Olivia. It had been a week since they'd seen each other, longer since they really talked, Liv was taking some much-needed time off work.

“I wasn’t supposed to go the precinct but I just wanted to check in, see that everyone was OK. And Rollins put something in the microwave and bam! It wasn’t a big explosion but the fire was a little scary. That’s how I ended up being there longer than intended.”

“No one was hurt, were they?”

“Well Rollins’ burrito was burned beyond recognition but everyone is fine. Another Tuesday at SVU.”

“Not being there agrees with you, Liv. You look…refreshed.”

“I look better than I feel.” She said, ordering a glass of water as the server circled the table. Liv picked up the menu. “I just…it’s been hard.”

“Of course it’s been hard. Nothing about this kind of situation is ever easy. Losing a member of your squad is like losing a member of your family.”

“It was his last day, Melinda. And I try so hard but you know I replay it in my head at least a few times a day. I don’t want to but I do. It’s just not right.”

“How are you going to stop replaying it in your head?” Melinda asked. “What does your doctor say?”

“He says it was Mike’s time, not mine, but I find that so hard to accept. He had no control over something someone else did when they felt backed into a corner. He had lovely fiancée and a family who loved him and he shouldn’t be gone. It’s going to take some time.”

“Of course it is.” Melinda nodded, reaching out for her hand. “You’ve taken a lot of hits recently. It’s a testament to your strength that you're still standing.”

“You sound like Ed.” Liv smiled.

“Look at that smile on your face, just saying his name. That’s the look of love.”

“Yeah, it is.” She nodded.

Her water arrived and the women ordered lunch. Liv hadn’t had much of an appetite recently but the crab cakes were pretty good so she ordered them with fries. Melinda got the grilled chicken salad; she needed roughage to go back to the morgue and finish up what would be a busy day.

“Ed Tucker…wonders never cease.”

“He's taking me to Paris, Melinda.”

“What? When?”

“Soon. Apparently he's already planned most of the trip. He asked me a couple of days ago and I can't wait to go. There's this little part of me that feels like I can't leave this world for nearly two weeks and it'll still be standing when I get back. There's another part of me that cannot wait to get the hell out of here.”

“Do you need me to keep Noah?” Melinda asked.

“You would do that?”

“Of course I would. I know you wouldn’t want to leave him with just anyone. I can use him as the excuse I need to leave the M.E.’s office and get home at a decent hour. It’s been a while since I've done that.”

“There are days when I'm sure they don’t deserve you.” Liv said. “They're still incredibly lucky to have you.”

Melinda nodded. After the Rudnick mess she had considered leaving. There were opportunities to teach, travel, research; Melinda Warner was a name known to a lot of people. And there was still plenty she wanted to do with her experience while time was on her side. City Hall handed her the Chief Medical Examiner position on a silver platter and even gave her the extra money she told them that she wanted. 

For a long time it had been Melinda’s dream job. For the moment it was something she did until she moved on to the next chapter in her life. The fairy dust had all been swept away…that was life sometimes. After over a decade working with Olivia Benson and seeing life hand her lemons and sometimes chuck them at her full throttle, it was nice to see the tide finally turning.

“Looks like we’re both getting some of what we want.”

“He was down on one knee and if I hadn’t been holding on to Noah’s hands I'm sure I would've fainted.”

“Wait, oh my god, he proposed? Show me the ring.”

“He didn’t propose.” Liv shook her head.

“What the hell was he down on one knee for?” Melinda asked, sipping her coffee.

“To see eye to eye with Noah. To make sure I knew, that Noah knew, it was about the three of us. We’re a team; a family.”

“Ed Tucker. Goddamn.”

“I know right. It’s…surreal and incredibly real at the same time. He's so normal, Melinda. He likes baseball and plays with his dog. He calls his dad on the phone twice a week and helped his daughter dye her hair pink. His glasses always fall down his nose when he’s doing crossword puzzles or cryptograms. He cooks dinner and lets Noah help. And I am so in love with him. I've never felt this way before in my life.”

“Tell me more about Paris.” Melinda said.

“We’re taking Noah with us. Ed’s renting a place and we’re going to have an au pair; we want him to have this experience too. I don’t know all the details, he's still working on things and I'm being told to sit back and relax so I think that’s exactly what I'm going to do.”

“Do you think I might fit in your suitcase?”

“When’s the last time you had a decent vacation?”

“I'm making summer plans with my sister and cousins.” Melinda replied. “We’re finally going back to Jazz Fest and it’s going to be amazing. It’s at the end of June going into July 4th weekend. I don’t know how much rest and relaxation I’ll get but I will get away. You think you might come back with a ring?”

“I'm saying yes if he asks. I really want him to ask…he better ask.”

“Drop some hints.” 

“I don’t think I have to. He requested a transfer out of IAB.”

“OK, now I've heard it all. Tucker is no longer going to be an IAB cop. He made it to captain; you don’t do that when you're not good at it.”

“He’s tired of the darker side of the NYPD.” Liv said. “I think he's tired of the darkness period. Not that hostage negotiation is all puppies and rainbows. But there's better chances of saving people and resolving bad situations. It’s the last step of a long career…he wants to be one of the good guys again.”

“I think he may have always been one of the good guys.” Melinda said as their food arrived.

“You're right.”

“I'm happy for you, Liv. This has been a long time coming.”

“I never thought it would. I had let go, you have to or it’s going to eat you alive you know. And then when I adopted Noah and I got to be a mom, I was happy. I'm still happy. Then the strangest thing happened.”

“How did you two really…I can't even imagine. And I have to be honest with you and tell you I've spent some time thinking about it because it boggled my mind and I don’t like unsolvable puzzles.”

“That night he bought me that drink, a year and a half ago, that’s when it first started. I mostly avoided him for another few months unless it was work until the Johnny D thing happened. Because I was made aware after the arrest I disclosed to him so that there wouldn’t be any repercussions. And just a week before that he came to me and told me that 1PP wanted a lieutenant at SVU. He'd told Dodds that I had already signed up for the lieutenant’s exam even though I hadn’t. He looked out.”

“You signed up for the lieutenant’s exam based on info Tucker gave you?” Melinda cut her salad.

“Yeah.” Liv nodded. “I didn’t tell you that?”

“No. I would've remembered for sure.”

“So last summer was a bit of a whirlwind. He courted me, actually courted me. There was romance and flirting and hand holding and lots of Netflix…I fell for him harder than I wanted to let myself. I was so afraid it wasn’t real. He turned out to be more real than so many others I gave my heart and time to.”

“That’s the past. You need to enjoy every moment of the present.” Melinda said. “And definitely the future in Paris.”

Liv smiled. It was hard to be so happy and still feel shredded on the inside. She knew that she would never be over what happened to Mike Dodds. Would she always blame herself? Hopefully not. But she would never be over it. 

He was leaving SVU, heading on to greener pastures. He'd earned her trust, her respect, and she happened to like the hell out of him. Now he was gone. Not just off on some Terrorist Task Force saving the world, he was really gone. His life was over and hers was blossoming in ways she hardly thought possible just 365 days ago. 

It didn’t seem fair but Olivia knew life wasn’t fair. That was such a cliché statement but that didn’t make it a lie. She didn’t know if Dr. Lindstrom was right, she didn’t know if it had been Mike’s time. But it wasn’t hers. That’s what she had to remind herself of a lot. Olivia was still here and she needed to make the best of all the good things that she had.

“I really can't wait. I've wanted to go to Paris since I was 12 years old and…”

Her cell phone was buzzing in her pocket. Liv told Melinda to hold that thought as she pulled it out and looked at the face. The Captain was on the line.

“Hey.” She said, mouthing to Melinda that it was Ed.

“Hey there. Are you still at SVU?”

“No, I met up with Melinda for some lunch.”

“Well I'm home. Lucy came by to take Noah to lunch and then to the park for some afternoon fun. So…”

“I should be home in about an hour.” Liv said.

“You wanna take a nap together, Lieutenant?” he asked.

“Yes. Make sure you have some lunch; you'll need that energy.”

“Yes ma'am. I’ll see you soon. Tell Melinda I said hello.”

“Will do. I love you.”

“Love you too, baby. Bye.”

Liv put her phone back in her pocket and looked at Melinda. The medical examiner was grinning over her salad.

“Ed says hello.”

“Covert sex call.” Melinda whispered. 

“So many phone calls we have are covert sex calls. We have a toddler at home; we make the time whenever we can.”

“I remember those days. Well, I don’t remember that well because it was a long ass time ago. You want a doggy bag so you can get home for some afternoon delight?”

“No, stop it.” Liv shook her head and laughed. “Noah will be out for a few hours…Ed can wait. The waiting makes it hotter.”

Melinda laughed too. It had been a bumpy year for her and for a lot of the people she cared about. Life was supposed to get easier when you got older, that’s what you believed as a child. Melinda Warner knew that was rarely the case. You got knocked down, got up, and dusted yourself off. 

Sometimes you got knocked right back down again. Olivia Benson had been knocked down a lot. She never stopped getting up. There were times when it seemed like she might not but that lioness heart kicked in and it was on. Melinda had the same heart, it was why they were friends. 

It was good to see her friend wearing such a warm, genuine smile despite all that happened recently. Maybe a season of calm was on the horizon…it certainly wasn’t asking for too much. Strife, pain, and death had invaded without permission. Liv wasn’t on her own now trying to ward the bad things off. She was part of a team, and that team kicked a lot of ass when necessary.

***


End file.
